Secrets
by MaximumFangness
Summary: When Max comes undone at the loss of her bestfriend, Iggy fills the big brother roll by checking up on her as often as possible. Max doesn't mind, but as more secrets come to light, Max realizes that maybe she never lost Fang at all. FAX, NIGGY, SPOILER.
1. The First Secret

Hey you guys :)

It's me, back with another story! One I promise to finish this time. (Cross my heart & hope to die). I'm not all that sure where it's going yet, but I've a rough outline in my head. Some Fax later, and Niggy! Those are my usual pairings hehe :). I hope you like this intro, even though it's short it sort've gives you the impression of where i"m headed. FANG SPOILERS ! So be careful and read at your own risk!

** STORY WIDE DISCLAIMER.

I do not own any rights to any referenced character, place, scene, or plot line mentioned henceforth in this fiction piece. These characters & etc. are not an original work of my own, but rather those of Mr. James Patterson, author of the fictional Maximum Ride series.

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Twenty years. In the last twenty four hours, Max had spent every waking moment, which was every moment, contemplating how long that would feel like. It was four years younger than she'd been alive. Or so they thought anyway, who knew how old they really were. She'd broken twenty years down in more ways then she could count. It was 4 sets of five years, ten sets of two years, two hundred and forty months, one thousand and forty weeks, seven thousand, two hundred and eighty days. She thought about multiplying the time she'd spent apart from Fang by 7280. The result was a fresh onslaught of gut-wrenching, chest- squeezing pain. Pain to the extent that she would gladly welcome a few years in the School, to take its place. She was Maximum Ride, leader of the flock and defender of the world as you know it… But to her, she'd always been the Max of Max and Fang. Now she had no Fang.

Her mother was worried about her. Everyone was, and she knew it. But she couldn't just shake this one off. It used to be that she'd shake things off by telling Fang all her troubles, and knowing he was there for her always helped her face the problem. Without Fang, she had no coping mechanism.

Her door opened slowly, and closed quietly. Max was close to sobbing, because although she knew it must be Iggy, it sounded just like Fang.

"Go away, Iggy." Max croaked. "I'm not hungry." It was around suppertime wasn't it? The door shut silently behind him, leaving Max to her misery. Alone, she suffered through her pain silently. She knew there would come a time when it would ease enough to allow her to function, but at this point, that light was so far down the tunnel, it was to difficult to see. And she was too tired to try.

**- 2 Years Later -**

"Hey, Max!" Iggy called from below. Max opened her bedroom door a crack.

"What is it Ig?"

"Nudge and I are heading out for a bit, and the kids are at your mom's, you'll be all right?"

"Of course Iggy," She smiled down at him. "Take your time. Be home for supper?"

"We should be, if not we'll call." She heard the door swing shut behind them, and pulled open her curtains to watch her two closest friends fly off. They were sweet to watch. They'd been 'dating' for a little under a year now, and were happy as clams. She was glad to see it, but she had to admit, it broke her heart a little at first. She remembered being that happy-go-lucky and in 'love'. She remembered the boy who'd broken her heart, as well. She'd held him in contempt for a while, but that just made her bitter. That wasn't fair to the rest of the flock. So she'd simply accepted her life without him. As dull, and seemingly meaningless as that could be at times. She'd still clip her wings to have him back, and she knew it. And Angel knew it, Max grimaced. That was one of the hardest parts. She put on a good act for the rest of them. She could mention his name now, without tearing up or clenching her fists. But Angel knew what lay under her skin. The scars she held from years of battle and the school healed, and never hurt her any more. But that one scar he'd caused, that was the slowest healing would she'd ever endured. It didn't hurt. It ached. Menacingly, it reared up every now and then.

Thoughts of him haunted her, but it was the memories that killed her spirit. She'd gotten physically ill from it at times, and tat was unheard of for them. She remembered every color in his eyes, every hi-light in his hair, every expression, smell and look he gave her.

It was no use to dwell on it. It only hurt her in the long run. Max wondered whether she should haul her sweats on and go for a run, or just lie down and take a nap. Running was a newly acquired habit, used to beat out frustration. But Max wasn't frustrated, she was just tired. With the house empty, she decided to take advantage of the quiet.

Her first thought was that she must've slept longer than she'd anticipated. Her door opened, and Iggy crept in again. It was a habit he'd developed shortly after Fang left. Max assumed he just liked to check on her. He'd come in, and if she felt like it, she'd tell him she was okay, or he'd just stay a minute and listen to her breathing.

"I'm Okay, Ig. I'll be down in a minute," Max mumbled without rolling over. When he never left, Max was surprised. She went to turnover but was stopped as he leapt onto her bed, and pinned her with his knee. Was it possible someone else had snuck into the house? How? Max struggled frantically, but was at a disadvantage on her stomach. She managed to land a solid blow into her assailant's stomach.

"Humph," he grunted. Max froze, statue still. A hand was slapped over her mouth, but she was no longer scared. She knew that grunt, that hand. His name came out as a muffled gasp.

"Fang."

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teeheee, hope you guys like it ! New chapter in the works :).


	2. Hatred

"Shh," Fang cautioned and folded his hand back over Max's mouth. "Be quiet. I don't want the flock to know I'm here." He slowly removed his hand. Max was on the verge of tears, and screaming with elation at the same time. She was also furious and felt slightly sick.

"What are you doing here?" Max asked, her voice surprisingly level. Fang faltered. He'd expected a different reaction, although he didn't know what.

"I…I wanted to see you." That sounded damn stupid. "I mean, I have to tell you about some things." Max quirked an expectant eye brow at him.

"Well?" she asked, surprising herself. She didn't know how she'd come to be so cold.

"Well, I… Can you get out of bed?"

"No, I've become paraplegic since you left," she said snidely. Her face fell on the last word though, and gave him a glimpse of the hurt he'd caused. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood facing him.

"What?" she asked.

"You look different that's all."

"Two years is a long time, Fang," she sighed. He frowned at her. She wasn't so cold when he left.

"Listen Max, I left because it was what was best for the flock. You know that."

"Right. You left to make us stronger. We'd do better without you. We'd grow to be better without you." She turned away from him. "It was bad when Jeb left. I forgave him for awhile, because how could he know the hurt it was going to cause all of us?" She whirled back, her eyes filled with angry tears. "You knew. And you left anyway. You had the nerve, the audacity to give us the same reasons he did." Fang stood then, shocked by what he was hearing.

Had he really acted like Jeb?

"Twenty years, Fang? What in the _fuck _were we supposed to do for twenty years?"

"Max, I…" He had no words. He still believed he'd done the right thing.

"What? You, what?"

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean too."

"A gentleman never hurts anyone unintentionally. Oscar Wilde," Max sighed. "I know it wasn't what you intended. I know that. But you had a responsibility Fang. Maybe it was one you shouldn't have had so young. None of us deserved this," she said. "But no one else ever walked away like you did. I never walked away, Fang. Even when I wanted too."

Reality was starting to sink into Fang. This wasn't about to be the heart-warming reunion he'd envisioned. Max wasn't glad to see him. She was hurting, just because he was there.

"Do you want me to go?" he asked quietly.

"Do you want to go?" She asked, unemotionally.

"No," he said. "I don't know Max. I'm trying to do whats best here. First I thought it was me being gone. I didn't intend to come back for good today, but now… I don't know." They stood silently for a while. Max began to notice the differences in Fang as well. His hair wasn't neatly cut, as he'd grown accustomed to when he lived with them. He was still lean, but he was obviously bigger now, stronger. He had a bandage on his left forearm, and a scar ran from the side of his neck down under his collar.

"where do you live?" She asked suddenly.

"I don't live anywhere. I live like we used too. I've been to most continents since I left you. All except," he sighed. "Antartica." Max rolled her eyes and he grimaced.

"So you didn't leave just to start shacking up with some blonde snow bunny?" She asked snidely. Good to know."

"Max," he said, rather condescendingly, she thought.

"What, Fang? Nothing you say could surprise me right now. I don't know what you've been doing, how could I?"

"I've spent at least a year or more, less than ten kilometers away from this house." She was wrong, because that did surprise her. "I know," he said slowly. "That you guys don't leave much, except for when Iggy and Dr. Martinez go for groceries. I know that Ella still follows Iggy around like he's the best thing she'd ever seen. I know you've been teaching the kids, and Dr. Martinez has been teaching you. I know Iggy can read brail now," he ranted quietly as she stared at him. "I know you cried for me when I left," he whispered. Anger flashed across her face.

"That was a long time ago now," she muttered.

"An eternity." They sat quietly for awhile.

"how could you watch me, and not come back? How could you stay away, knowing Angel's heart broke. Knowing Iggy was so broken up? Seeing Nudge be quiet, and Gazzy just close in on himself? How could you watch all that and not come back and admit your mistake?"

Fang stayed silent.

"I waited for you," Max whispered.

"I came back, Max. I came back at least once or twice a month. When I thought you needed me most. You thought I was Iggy. I never truly left you."

"That's where you're wrong," she said, although this new information rocked her. "I didn't have you anymore. I couldn't talk to you. You were gone."

Another millennium of silence passed.

"Do the kids hate me?" he asked, miserably.

"No," Max laughed. "Angel has a countdown to the twenty year mark. Nudge is planning a come home party. Gazzy misses you, terribly, but he won't admit it to anyone but Iggy, and Iggy just…stepped up after you left. He does what I need him to do, stays up late talking to me when I need it, and although I know he doesn't understand what you did, he accepts it. He'd welcome you back." Max grinned to herself, thinking of the flock. Fang took a step toward her. Her grin faded a little, but she didn't back away. Or kick him in the guts, so he took that as a positive sign.

"What about you, Max?" he said and reached for her hand. It was the first gesture toward her he'd made in years.

"Do you hate me?"


	3. Trust

Hi again everybody! Didn't think I forgot this story did you? Hehe, sorry. I got a new computer and only just got microsoft word installed lately. Then I had a new idea for a story mapped out in my mind and that had to get out first, It's called "For the First Time" rated M, so check it out :). This is just a short catch up chapter. FFT will be updated more frequently than this one because I have that one finished, but I'll work hard on this one too! New update soon. Thanks, R&R, MaximumFangness.

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"No. No, Fang. I don't hate you."

He smiled and sighed with relief, taking a joyful step towards her. She didn't return his smile, and stepped back. He looked confused.

"I could never hate you. But I don't trust you anymore." That hit Fang like a punch in the stomach. She didn't trust him? That was impossible. The flock, their relationship…everything they had was built on trust.

"Max," he started. "I don't know what to say to that."

She shrugged. "It is what it is, Fang. Take it or leave it. You can fly back out through that window again, and no one but me will be any the wiser. Or you can stay, and hope the kids accept you again. Which personally I'm pretty convinced they will. But that doesn't mean you can just waltz right back and me and you will be fine. You hurt me, and I don't forgive you for that."

Fang took all that in, and felt a cold fist squeeze at his heart. His Max had changed. She was tired and sullen-looking. It was his fault.

In his head, he vowed then and there to make her happy again.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't believe that, but if you give me a chance to show you, I will. I promise you that. Just…let me stay." He felt ridiculous for having to ask.

Max thought about it. Did she want him to stay? Her head filled with the thoughts she'd had of him the last six months. She'd made herself believe she was in fact stronger without him. That since she had overcome losing him, there was nothing she couldn't face. Could she bring him back? Allow him back into her life where she would have to face the man she once loved so fiercely, every single day?

"You can stay." Max stated her decision quietly. She had to let him. She could never face the kids, face Angel who knew her mind, and not let them know he'd been back and she turned him away. "But, one rule. You stay away from me. I won't be falling back to you like some half-wit bimbo who's been pining after some guy for two years. That's not what happened and it's not who I am. I got over you Fang. So you can move back here, but don't expect 'us' again."

That hurt Fang, and she could read it in his face.

"I understand, Max."

"Good." A thought crossed Max's mind. "How does Angel not already know you're here?"

"I learned to block her," he sighed. "I can block her from anyone within a 20 foot range."

Max just nodded. Nothing really surprised her any more.

"Any more developments?"

"Not physical ones. I can tell you more about things in the morning. You should sleep now."

"Where will you go?" Max asked. She hated that the thought of him going back through the window panicked her.

"Well, I have to stay til you're asleep. To block Angel. And technically," he started. "I should be here when you wake up too."

Max glared at him.

"Well that's awfully fucking inconvenient." She pointed toward an old armchair in the corner of her room. "Stay there."

He nodded, went to the chair and settled in for the night. He watched her lie down, and turn her back to him. Her hair, slightly mussed from the night, cascaded down over her back and across the bed. He knew how that hair would smell, feel under his hands. He wanted nothing more than to go to her. It was his own fault that he couldn't. Sighing, he waited until her breathing evened out to the pace that indicated she was asleep and closed his eyes. He doubted he'd get much sleep, but it was worth the try.

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Thanks for Reading, :)


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